Many are calling Bills defensive tackle Marcell Dareus selfish for the four-game suspension that will sideline him to start the 2016 season. From the perspective of the financial consequences arising from the suspension, the move was anything but selfish.
With a base salary of $7.9 million for 2016, Dareus will lose more than $1.85 million for the four weeks he’s on suspension. With $5 million of his $25 million signing bonus counting against the 2016 cap, he’ll also be required to pay back 4/17th of that amount. That’s another $1.17 million.
Likewise, with a $7 million option bonus earned this year, Dareus will be required to pay back $274,510, per a source with knowledge of the specific calculation.
The Bills are required to seek repayment, even if they don’t want to. (Given their obvious anger with Dareus, they apparently want to.) Under the labor deal, the Bills can automatically get repayment by keeping future money due to Dareus.
In all, the price tag for the Dareus suspension exceeds $3.3 million, making whatever substance he took the most expensive form of that substance in the world.
UPDATE 6:00 p.m. ET: A prior version of this post said that all future guarantees in the Dareus deal have voided. Per a source with knowledge of the contract, the specific language of the deal voids only the guarantees for the year in which a default occurs. All guarantees beyond 2016 remain in effect.